Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Castlevania Dominus Collection) (Switch)

 

The moon rises yet again!

The final of the three DS games on the collection. And I've played it not that long ago after playing through the Advance Collection since I just wanted to continue the stories. Pretty much the same as last time, except that I actually had to play the game legit from beginning to end. And I recalled that in a normal play, the game is hard. Went through a lot of potions and meals I tell you. 

Overall, it get's better as the game went on, but it's a bit obnoxious. A lot of item and glyph grinding to finish quests or even get enough levels to stand a chance. Cause you gotta do the quest of the villagers to get useful items like the more effective potions and armors. At least the castle actually feels like fully explored compared to Portrait of Ruin. Nice with a lot of voice clips, both the intro scene, all the villagers and a lot more monsters having voices beyond the succubus.

So of the three, I actually end up with Portrait of Ruin the best. Didn't think that back in the day. It's more fun to play through and the choices of weapons and such is more interesting. 

The Dominus Collection then. It was really good. The main three games are good either way, I've only played around the Haunted Castle bonuses on there since it's bit much for me with the arcade feeling of it. One thing I was bothered with was that the three main games wasn't in release order of Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order Ecclesia. No they put it in Order of Ecclesia, Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow. I get that they where going for in-game chronology order since Order of Ecclesia is 1888, Portrait of Ruin 1944 and Dawn of Sorrow something like 2036. You get art and music so it's all nice. Some people wished for Symhony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, and I would like that too, but hopefully there will be another collection... and I would like the 64-games as well to see if with a better controller I might get around it. Or Konami can give me a Mystical Ninja collection so that I can have Mystical Ninja 64 Starring Goemon at home.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Castlevania Dominus Collection) (Switch)

Time to break out the whip again!

Well, continued with the other game in the series, Portrait of Ruin. Nothing much to add from the last time I played it. I somehow enjoy this game a bit more than Dawn of Sorrow this time around. I actually almost 100 % the main game by grinding all items from the monsters and such, I got through the Nest of Evil around level 65 compared to the level 80 I was on my first playthrough. Probably got lucky since the Castlevania III cameos got into a loop where I could stand in a corner and whip Trevor until he died, beat Grant after that and Sylpha was rather easy after that moment. Didn't take 8 hours this time, but it was enjoyable enough. It might have to be due to the music, I prefer the music in this game than Dawn of Sorrow, it is more "forceful" here compared to the other game. 

That and the customisation of the main characters. It's fun to change sub-weapons and such compared to the soul system of the last game. The only one that would probably need some work though is Charlotte since it's a lot of changing around spells and such for her being good in special situations. Jonathan is a lot better. Maybe it's the fact it's a whip-wielding hero with options. Or that the quest system is actually rewarding in revisiting area beside grinding. Although, one quest I realised doesn't jive with modern life and that was to talk with Wind when it's between 12 and 1 (am or pm). I work or sleep at that point, I had to do that at midnight between Friday and Saturday pretty much expanding the game for a couple of days. My whole weekend was off after that... god I'm getting old! 

Some things I realised I like less with the game is the map, the castle map is so small, hardly any secret rooms and the left side of the castle map is empty. Usually the map covers the whole screen. And the paintings are pretty much a straight line with a loop back to the beginning. And the fact that the second half of the painting is just the same first maps again is rather boring. But it's a solid game, and there is no touch screen shenanigans that hold Dawn of Sorrow back... at least in the main game.

There is the sisters mode that exclusively plays with the touch controls on the DS. They did the stick option like the in Dawn of Sorrow for the ice breaking ability. It works rather well, I find that Loretta's Ice magic being the best option to traverse the castle since you only need to aim direction. compared to Stella's slash attacks where you need to mov the cursor back and forth. Didn't finish it, I thought I just needed to reach Brauner to finish the mode, forgot you needed to defeat the bosses in each painting in order to get near Brauners sanctum. Maybe I will play the alternate modes some other time when I play through all the games. Less grinding for most of them since there is no items to get.

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Switch)

 

Do you wanna know how I got these scars?

Well, that went fast to get a new game in the series. And they are over 18 this time, boy I was on the money! Feeling less of the supernatural in this one, but it is a murder mystery at least. You're back in the Usagi Detective Agency. The MC, Ayumi and Usagi are investigating a recent murder with connects back to murders that happened 18 years back where school girls ended up strangled with a paper bag on their face with a smile on. The game is rather nice in just picking up my name from the saves from the older games so that saved me 1 minute in putting it in.

It gets creepy, it gets heavy. I enjoyed it. I've been just trying options at times to move forward, but I've played old point and click-games so it isn't something new for me. And at times the options gets a bit hard to understand what I'm doing. Talking to Junko Kuze, the officer put on the case it took me a hot minute in getting past her first question. Reading up there is interesting interaction and funny dialoge that one can get so there is a replayability aspect of it. And you're graded by a teacher character at the end for each chapter. Middle of the road for my evaluation. Not great, but not bad.

So to the story, spoilers beware. So a student is found strangled with some sort of cord at a pump station. He wears a paper bag with a scribbled smile on linking it toward three murders 18 years earlier. The Usagi Detective Agency is contacted, especially since Usagi himself was involved in the original case. The MC and Ayumi begin looking into it. Their are similarities with the earlier murders, like the bag is made of the same manufacturer as murder 2 and 3, but there are differences, like the victim is a boy this time with stumps our detectives. Ayumi meets up with an old friend that works as a teacher at the school. Don't like that guy, he gives me bad vibes, like always so close up and personal with everyone (no personal space there) and they point it out. Maybe bad feelings from the last game, but I suspected him a lot and I believe the game cheats on that since his smile sometimes seems to align with the smile on the paper bags (or that is my mind trying to frame him), or it could be that he seems to hit on Ayumi and that threatens the relationship with the MC... that is me.

He is involved, but not in the murder directly. A girl that knew the victim had fallen in love with the teacher and as he tried to steer her away, she had a fall out with the victim. And it's around here I start piece it together. Cause detective Kuze gets a visit from the Smiling Man and while in her apartment the MC find a tie that Ayumi then can confirm is the same as used in the school (thanks to the teacher I have to admit). With it was also a letter. MC doesn't look at the letter, but then it clicked, especially since I learned that Junko had a motorcycle and one was spotted near the crime scene. Her brother had also been gone for 18 years and after he disappeared no more Smiling Man killings. The boy was only 9 so he wasn't the murder, but I connected the dots. 

Obviously the male victim, wasn't murdered, but a suicide due to being crushed by falling grades and an unresponsive love. Junko Kuze found him by the road, but staged it as a Smiling man killing in order to provoke a response by Emio so that she could get closure on her brother. I figured all that out on my own! Of curse, that doesn't explain the Smiling man murders. No, that I followed with the game to the end, second-guessing my thoughts. I knew Junko's brother couldn't have been the murderer, but he seemed to still be alive, but with the name of a missing person that was of interest for the police 18 years ago, but I met a couple that knew that person back in the day and day swear on his sweet nature. So I was conflicted, but in the end is able to track the person to a lost village in the mountains, where I meet Junko Kuze that seemed to have followed the same lead as I and she tells me to quit the investigation. Here I was just gonna save the game, but I wondered over the command since it says "save/quit investigation" and for the one time in the game, it does that and the MC decides to leave. What kinda mind screw is that?

Well, two gunshots later MC returns and find Junko with blood on her standing above a dead body. As MC grabs his phone Junko pulls her revolver on him and spill the story (that I already figured out) and that her brother is still alive, having killed the Smiling man that threatened Junko and she now tries to protect him and the MC is the loose thread in this plan. But she can't do it and breaks down crying and then her brother shows up with a bloody machete ready to kill the MC, screen turns white and a gun shot is heard. And then you're back at the agency while Ayumi is back from the hospital where Junko's brother is after being shot by another detective that helped you in the investigation. Usagi returns from a trip uncovering the origins of the Smiling man legend and takes Ayumi out to lunch leaving me taking a phone call with the officer that saved me. No respect I say. Small scene revealing that Junko and the other detective got married and helps her brother regain himself. And then credits roll... wait, what happened with the Smiling man origin?

Well, turns out that Nintendo pushed that into an epilogue where you play through two scenes as Usagi questioning two villagers from where Emio came from, and then you watch a 30 minute animated movie about how it happened, how Emio grew up with his sister in an abusive family where they got beaten by their father, one day the sister drowns in a pond while trying to retrieve her things that the father threw in it which pushes Emio over the edge so he kills his father and is sent to juvenile detention. He gets released, moves to the city, meets a girl that also have an abusive father. After her father hit her one night, Emio cheers her up with a paper bag he cheered his sister with, and proceed to kill the girls father, which she isn't happy with either so he kills her as well, and then two other girls, a third girl escapes by laughing at him. Meanwhile he have given himself a permanent smile with some metal sheers (think the Joker in the Dark Knight). And then meeting Junko as a child and the scuffle with her brother that makes the brother get amnesia and triggering some sort of guilt feelings since the brother tried to protect Junko like Emio tried to protect his sister. And then he takes care of the boy for 18 years, no further murder until the game begins happening (well, he isn't able to kill anyone, not for lack of trying). That's really heavy, and I just saw season 3 of Young Justice where they have an episode about domestic abuse as well. Jesus!

It was an enjoyable game, it had tensions at times and it made me feel smarts so that is a plus. Not enough supernatural things sadly. The ending for the second game still the best ending just for the sheer WTF. The game is a lot more animated than the two remakes, shocker I know, and has several scenes that is just storytelling, Mostly Junko scenes. I hope they continue this series cause I like the main trio and it was fun playing as Ayumi as well.  And Usagi even if it was for two scenes in the epilogue.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Castlevania Dominus Collection) (Switch)

 

They are all here!

Well, I didn't think they would port the DS games when I played through them after the Advance collection, but here we are and I had to get them right after the Direct. And I finished Dawn of Sorrow three days later. And I had a better time it seems than last time. Is it that I played it on Normal Mode? Is it due to not having to use touch screen controls? Maybe the bigger screen? Who knows, I enjoyed myself greatly this time either way.

It's the same story so no need to add to that from the last time, so let's go on how the game play. And as mentioned there are improvements. The Magic Seals work using button prompts now, wish they weren't there at all like in Julius mode, but it's workable. Didn't have that much of trouble when I trained up some of the seal combos. They are also nice enough if you miss the first attempt they highlight which buttons to press. Thanks for that!

Then the screen, since it was a duel DS screen in the original they decided to put all three beside each other with the main screen being the gameplay and the others being a status screen and a map. Diminish the need to shuffle around the other screens. Played it mostly on handheld mode due to using the TV for other things. The screen is bigger than my 3DS so no problem with that. It works fine. You have the option to change the screens for example emulate the DS screen set up, but not a single lone screen. I don't know why, at times I would like to have the whole screen with just the battle, for example bosses since I don't need the map and mostly you don't need the status screen. A bit of complaint online about this as well.

I won't play Portrait of Ruin right now since Nintendo also released the next Famicom Detective Club the same week so that will be the weekend game, but I will continue the Dominus Collection after that.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (DS)

 

So, when will we save the planet?

Played through the third game in the series again. A bit later after the original games, and the reason being that there is no pull to play through this. At the time it has been 15 years and still no sign of an eventual continuation from the cliffhanger ending they left us in. On the other hand I have reconsidered my hate for Tyrell, so I actually find him rather agreeable somewhere like a quarter to half of the game length. Still a POS in the beginning since he needs to be to start the plot. 

Overall the plot works out for me, the graphics are a bit dated and I actually believe the 3d hampers it. Like many other games, it's the need for rotating 3d cameras and such instead of a quick action taking place. Which reflects that every attack takes a bit longer than in the GBA games. Interestingly it also gives them a bit more heft as you almost feel the heaviness of the weapons as our heroes swing them on the enemies. 

No, the worst part with this game is still the points of no return. Even with a guide at my side I still missed a djinn in one of the areas I couldn't go back to. And this reflect something that the game isn't as polished as the first games. You get mind read super late in the game which took away one of the most intriguing method of puzzle solving or finding information to progress or just lore of the world. And then by locking out several areas you diminish the workload even more. And that is what it feels like. Less passion in the game. They did put in the effort to show how for example Kraden's group could traverse the first temple, like they did in The Lost Age with Piers looking for his control gem for his ship. But there you could use your own psynergy to follow that path, here it gets locked behind the Point of No Return. It shrinks the world.

A fun thing is that I actually did the game for the first time as intended after leaving Belinsk on the ship, almost. You're supposed to go to Warrior hill to get the third eye, and from their to Izumo to use it in order to get Himi and then head toward Tonfon in order to get the Echo Gem to look for the Umbra Gear map. I usually find the map and the people carrying it before going to Tonfon and then wondering what the Echo Gem is doing in the item store. A pity that due to constantly creating points of no return I'm more inclined to go off the beaten path pushing me away from the narrative cause who knows what the game will lock out for you.

And the last part with the game was that since I forgot one djinn and realised it after doing everything you can do before fighting the final boss I switched file to the one where I had grinded to level 99 and gotten everything. Here I changed djinn around since the guide didn't have a class list and due to the very different structure of finding djinn meaning the carefully chosen class might be hampered due to the djinn you find since at times you will have a lot of a single element. 

At the end of things, it's a working game but their is a lot of missed potential and it just doesn't hit the highs of the older game. Not even the music compare really. It sounds like it should, but there is only two tracks from this game that really stand out and that is the Apollo Ascent and one of the outside dungeons track with the bells and bass. But there is no song like Elemental Stars that just sucks you in the mystery of the world. So it becomes a disappointment. 

So in a remake after they have to make it before going through the next part the only thing I would like is getting rid of the Point of No Return and why in the world is Crossbone Island set behind finishing the game? That is just irritating. 

A DnD Tale: Tomb of Annihilation - The King has left the building (Part 4)

It's good to be the king.

Well, another dive into the epic tale of our heroes trying to get to the Tomb of Annhiliation. We played for 2 hour and pretty much just fought some dinos in an amphitheater. They headed north from the last session and found this amphitheater which they saw on the map they had so they investigated and found this nest in the middle with some shining golden trinkets inside. They went in and found some treasures when they realise that they are surrounded by a pack of deinonychus which I learnt today was the real inspiration for the velociraptors in the Jurassic Park-series. The name was just cooler so Crichton went with that. What followed was something like 10 minutes discussing if they could tame them and ride around with them, but they abandoned that when they asked how intelligent they where and the got what, a 3 in Int? Which is kinda scary that they though the beast to dumb to tame. But they still complain that the campaign drags even though they are the one that derails the narrative all the time. They jumped into the nest for some protection as the dinos circled around them and then the King of feathers appeared. He walked into the arena, misty stepped up to them and spewed out a cloud of wasps. 

From here it went a bit out of hand. Immeral shadow stepped up on the back of the king, hit it with his spear, but failed to lodge it into its head in order for Destinova to use it as a conduit for a lightning bolt, but is able to stun it with a stunning strike (my fault since I forgot the legendary resistance it had) The battle with the king goes on for 3 more rounds until Immeral succeed putting it in and then Destinova frying the brain of the dinosaur. They hit the other dinos with the only problem being Freya who, while attacking a swarm of wasps that the king had spewed out rolls two 1's in a row for her multiattack, pretty much putting her on deaths door with 2 HP remaining. Then she gets knocked out by another deinonychus (I so wish it had been the wasps, it would have been so fun).

The other's clean up the rest and then goes back to camp to heal and look through the bounty. Some gold and a magic helm of telepathy. So 2 and a half hour amounted to just one battle and nothing more for this time. I think I need to speed up things, maybe say that the team left at camp scouted out some of the shrines so that they know where to go, look forward to the shrine with the froghemoth at the entrance. I got a tip reding how to handle the king of feathers to resurrect him as a zombie so I spent some time putting that into my excel arc I use to make the battles easier. Might start put in the roaming zombie T-rex scaring them at night and spewing zombies at them.

Link's Awakening (Game & Watch: Legend of Zelda)

 

I hate nightmares that repeats!

Had some craving for some Zelda before Echoes of Wisdom is released 1-2 month from when I write this. And why not try out the Gameboy version which I haven't played before. And it make this post goes around rather fast since the story is the same and gameplay as  well, well maybe not for the Switch remake since they fixed a lot of the problems with the game from a modern standpoint.

I gotta say, it feels rather weird to go back to a version with lacks the color dungeon or even something in the area where you either get Dampés dungeon creation or the Photographer Mouse in the DX version. And once again I'm reminded that the photographer mouse actually enhanced the relationship with Link and Marin with the mountain climbing and watching from the plateau near the beach as he took pictures of them. 

At least I found all heart pieces, some are really well hidden I must say cause I have found them from time to time, but I can never remember them. At the same time the game also wants you to take it slow, especially when you have the BowWow or the flying rooster. The BowWow actually tells you about buried seashells and at the end I realized I missed a staircase beyond some holes you need to fly too. Which when I look it up I write all the time playing this game, a pity I never learn.

The final difference I noticed is that Marin flies around with wings at the The End screen which was a bit cute. Probably like the DX and onward ending screen better. Now, would I ever play it again? No, the 3DS screen or using my original DX copy on the Retron-5 is bigger and has the color additions makes the games better, and the Switch is the best way to play it when you can't stand the constant switching of items (plus extra health things). 

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow (Switch)

 

Do you read Sutter Cane?

Got this game during the summer sale of 2024 after playing the demo that takes you through the first day pretty much. It's another horror point and click game like the Last Door. And since I finally finished the Lovecraft collection I have some more references to take from... that and I watched John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness for the first time just before playing the game. Maybe it pulled me to get it as well. Kinda funny that the fiction town of Hobb's End from the movie takes it name from the archaic english word Hobb that apparently means devil or something like that. So with that I knew there was something bad in the end of the barrow.

Did I ever tell you my favourite colour is purple?

Story is that you play as Thomasina Bateman who have been invited to Bewley by a man named Leonard Shoulder to help in the excavation of Hob's Barrow. As she arrives Leonard is nowhere to be found so she has to walk around the village and get the clues to find the barrow and entering it, all while some townspeople gives her a hard time. Turns out that Thomasina's father was involved in the excavation of the barrow 25 years ago, but that attempt ended in tragedy as her father ended in a coma which her mother explained away as a horsing accident. Another of the excavator hang himself after losing his hand. And her father seemed to be investigating the barrow in order to trap an ancient spirit that apparently caused famine in the countryside. 

You have nightmares, creepy music and I believe rotoscoped animation of people and animals that always give a creepy vibe. Not to hard, the only time I checked up on a puzzle was when I was in the barrow and couldn't get a door open even though I knew the answer and tried to enter a code, but I must have put in the wrong input since it didn't get through until I had the picture just in front of me on the computer (and I took a picture on my phone from the game and that didn't work). There was one puzzle that began feeling silly as I played when I needed workers for the excavation and the only one that had them was the local lord so I needed milk for the maid of the manor, but since I couldn't get it directly from a goat, I needed to heal an old man and the only way was finding two ingredients and both had their own distinct quest to get them before getting the damn milk. A bit convoluted I might say. Lucky the fast-travel system worked really well when I got where everything was.

Overall a great atmospheric story worth a playthrough. I though it was gonna be more violent than it was, especially when they slap an 18+ rating on it and the trailer really shines the spotlight on an incident that really don't amount to much. But great voice acting, although the in between narration from Thomasina is noticeable much higher in sound than the rest of the game and it puts me out of it at times. Great to play during Halloween.

Ghost Trick: The Phantom Detective (Switch)

 

So Supernatural!

After three Etrian Odyssey games I needed something different so I picked up Ghost Trick that have been on my shelf for almost a year. It's a remake of an old DS game that was made by Capcom and the same team behind Ace Attorney. I remember reading about the original in some gaming magazine, but I never got it. Maybe since I hadn't played any Ace Attorney games at the time and I frankly just thought the main character looked super weird with his spiked hair. Glad I got another chance to rectify that mistake.

Story is that you awake as a ghost after you have been killed. A lamp possessed by another ghost tells you have to do your thing and then your of to find out who you are, why you where killed and try to maybe stop that. Your power's consist of manipulating things, travel through telephone lines and go back in time when interacting with dead bodies to 4 minutes before their death to change their fate.

During your investigation you have to save the police detective Lynne that constantly get herself killed so you babysit her most of the time, but during this you uncover a strange tale of an innocent death-row inmate and former police detective that is about to be executed and the machination of "the Manipulator" that forces people to act against their will. And in true Ace Attorney fashion the story just staggers and staggers. There's a collective of spies from a foreign country, which also consist of robots for some reason. The Manipulator turns out to be a dead man from 10 years ago that was killed by a falling meteor that lodged a piece into him, pretty much making him immortal. And who's face is your own. You also meet Missile, the dog from the first Ace Attorney game that helped you in the final episode with Von Karma. 

I got hooked rather fast and I just ran with it. The story kept me engaged to the end and the twist and turns makes it a great story. The graphics are really good and especially the animation of the characters. Well, mostly Inspector Cabanela and his dancing movements. And then the music is amazing. The puzzle was manageable most of the time. Wasn't until chapter 14 I began looking up when I sat 5-10 minutes trying to get how to get it. Took me around 12 hours, I didn't 100%, for that you needed to finish the chapters on a first try pretty much and then you had some extra sliding puzzles to finish with moving pictures. I did one and tried a harder difficulty and just couldn't get on. You get concept art and such to look at, but I got other games to play.

Etrian Odyssey III HD: The Drowned City (Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection) (Switch)

 

Ahoy Me Maties!

Well, here I thought I would have any easy time just use the perfect combination of classes I learnt in two games prior, and then the developers goes and change every class. Thanks! So instead of the Landsknecht protector front with an alchemist, survivalist and medic back I would have stomped my way through the game, I had a Gladiator, Hoplite and Buccaneer front and a Zodiac and Monk back. So that took me 30 minutes I had hoped to cut down, but no. And another thing before the game starts, no bonus for clearing the other games. No bracelets or so. Seems really strange that the original games coupled together I and II, but the remakes hinted at connections between II and III. Anyway, back to the story.

So you have arrived in this coastal town where a 100 years ago the ancient and technology advanced city sunk into the sea caused by a cataclysm, leaving only a Yggdrasil labyrinth to explore. From there it is as usual, with the exception that if you have some spare cash after outfitting your characters you can hire a boat and explore the seas around the city to reconnect with other cities, find islands with treasures and fight bosses to gain exp and materials. You can also fish, which pretty much the only thing you can do to bring in cash. And the ship master complains that people spend to much time fishing, well tough luck when that is the only way to keep the sailing operation going!

Anyway, into the labyrinth. I played most of the first two stratums on normal, but when I've reached 20 hours gameplay and my summer vacation is over for now I didn't feel like it anymore so I set it to picnic mode and went onward from there. There is something to play in normal. How you avoid the FOE:s and have to learn and use the environment. Especially the first stratum boss where I had to use tents between the two phases of the fight. But I beat him fair on Normal! I even survived the fish ambush on the second stratum by just booking it and be able to avoid them attacking me. After that I went to the floor below, faced of an alligator FOE I actually been able to subdue before, but now he wrecked me. So I set it to picnic. 

Still, you explore the stratums on behalf of the senate who looks for the Drowned City. You encounter this girl Olympia that helps you in the first stratum, but in the second she is the one that sets you up for the fish ambush. She belongs to the Drowned City that keeps humans away in order to fight there war against the Deep Ones, some lovecraftian fish horrors below the depths of the ocean. The Abyssal King, who has lived for over 100 years wants humans out of there since the Deep Ones feed on the emotions of humans while he leads his robot armies against the Deep Ones. The Senate is against this since behind them is Princess Getrun who is the Abyssal Kings sister and also have lived for over 100 years. By choosing to either protect the Abyssal Guardian or defeat it you change the ending of the game. Either protect it and keep the humans away or kill it and face the Abyssal king. I checked on it and someone mentioned it was easier to choose that way so I went with that. And then I defeated the Abyssal King and the game ended... that's all?

Apparently so. There's a post-game stratum (like always) where you are tasked by Yggdrasil to go even deeper and defeat the Deep Ones... even though the Elder One is in the third stratum locked away by the Abyssal King? I charted the first floor and so much of the second and third I could, but I got stumped and since it's a hassle to get back to the second floor since you have to take a certain path which is so irritating (maybe if I charted it with an automatic travel thing). It also has the new feature for this game where certain areas just doesn't register so you have to map it yourself (which is fine), but also makes it disorienting. 

Pushed through the floors and found the last level. Which ends at level 25, but I got the feeling that the other games had up to 30 levels? Anyway, found the boss, and got killed in three turns. Well, better grind the people back to 60-70 levels. Got to 60, found a tentacle as well as running around the floor and then I tried again. He already had a bit dropped of his HP so I began hitting him with everything I got and beating that bar there's suddenly a phase 2 and boy, it went bad. No MP left for the Zodiac and Monk so it's bad. Took a couple of turns, but he beat me. So then I checked up. Apparently there's 8 tentacles around the floor and I thought I might spend some time to take them out and might try again, but then I read they re-spawn within 3 days and it's just running around after them. I just called it quit there. I got more games to play.

Overall it works like the other game. I noticed also that this game at least give you EXP when you report a quest like they did in the Untold games so leveling is a bit better. The Sailing portion was a bit fun, but the cost is hard to justify in the early game and you really need to land on every square since who knows what lies in some random water square? So I get why maybe it doesn't need any extra like the others since it basically function like the Untold games, although sailing is optional. You can also add subclasses where you get the skills from those together with your main class. So a lot of choices, but only the Gladiator/Sovereign and Hoplite/Farmer was used for their skills, the others got subclasses because it also gave you extra skill points to dump in their ordinary skills. 

Now I only have IV, V and Nexus left... but those are on my 3DS and since I can't play them on the TV, they have to wait a while (I might also be a bit tired of the series as well after playing all three in a row). Don't know what I will play after this, but I got a lot in the backlog.  

Etrian Odyssey II HD: Heroes of Lagaard (Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection) (Switch)

 

To the Skies!

Continued with the sequel like I did the Untold stories. Mostly the same thing like the first game. The special area in the Untold version is gone, no story mode and the ideas of the Yggdrasil Cores aren't here. In this it's the Overlord that actually is the final boss, and he is just a scientist that uploaded his conscious in a machine or something like that in order to research immortality and create the Holy Grail. Which you come around, kills him and take to save the Duke of Lagaard. Who was the bad guy again? Cause really, what did he do? Well, I know that people that died in the labyrinth was picked up by the winged ones to the Flying Keep and he probably used them in his experiments, Schylla and the boss before the Overlord is stated as former explorers. Maybe there is more things in the Post-game in the Sky Islands, but I'm more interested in getting the 3rd game going since that is totally new for me.

The one thing these version actually have over the Untold games is that I can connect my guild from the first game to this getting one accessory that is rather good. It also creates some sort of cohesion that I missed in the Untold games. Wonder if they would have done it with Untold 3 since its basically stated that was the goal of the surviving adventurers in that game. Anyway, I wished they also had brought over the characters so I didn't have to spend the first 15 minutes recreate the team. Which I still changed, my main guy I changed into a Ronin since I watched to many Akira Kuruzawa samurai movies this summer so the thought of the wandering ronin that solve town troubles sounded interesting. Also changed the medic to a War Mage since I wanted to try different classes and then just used the other classes, Troubadour and Dark Hunter from the first game, Gunner that Ricky was in Untold. And instantly the game wanted me to use the other classes for quests so I brought back the others and used the Ronin as a Landsknecht and dubbed them the B-team. And that went well until I stumbled upon Salamox which beat me up so much that I went back to B-team, trained them to lvl 30 and beat the hell out of the monster. It wasn't until I reported the quest I remembered that I could just have skipped him... Oops, playing Picnic makes it maybe a bit too easy to just beat up all monsters. On the other hand, floors 21-25 would have driven me mad in normal mode.

From here I stayed with B-team except when I needed to do things with other classes. I gotta say it's a lot more inviting to use the different classes. One area exclusive for a single Troubadour and another for the new Beast class. You either grind them to high levels or use their special skills in order to control the FOE:s out there. I choose grinding since their skills was better used in other places. Another area you needed four different classes at the same time to traverse the area which made a couple of trips, but it was fun figuring out which class meat which. Still, the B-team was better overall with their skills and such so they continued be the better choice. So that will probably be the first choice for my next game.

Overall a fine game. Interesting changes from the first one. FOE:s doesn't give EXP so they are more of a hassle now since their only good thing is the materials they might drop. Early bosses as well, which is just mean. They also changed the skill tree actually forcing you to build skills in some lower spells for example before hitting the big hitters. The gathering skill was lowered to 5 (still prefer Untolds version where you pick the gathering points once a day instead of one at a time depending on how many points in those skills you had). 

Etrian Odyssey HD (Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection) (Switch)

 

Back at it again.

Well, I had to get the origins collection since it was the only way to play the 3rd game that I don't have. And I had to import it from Play Asia since otherwise I couldn't get a physical copy, need to save on the memory space, especially since I don't want to fork out on a 2 TB micro sd card so close to Switch 2. So, this is a HD remaster... remake... port (?) of the original DS game. Basically the same game as Etrian Odyssey Untold which I played earlier (only took me 8 years to get through) and this I did in 3 days and less than 30 hours. Believe I shaved most of the game time by letting the game fill in the borders for me automatically. That and I played on Picnic mode through most of the game since I just finished the game.

So what's different? Well, there is no Gunner or Highlander, which I feel is a bit sad. There is no story mode so there is no Ricky, Simon, Arthur or Raquna. It gives both advantages and disadvantages. A terrible disadvantage is that I liked the interaction between the characters in untold. There reactions to the story made it feel important and "real" so to speak. The whole separate area is gone as well so no M.I.K.E. as well so one more character gone. On the other hand, had I played this version first the twist of the final area would really have been something. Also, the Ronin and hexer you bump into during the whole game feels more important here since they are pretty much the only one you interact with (could also be due to forgetting them during the aforementioned 8 year playthrough while I played Untold). They also gave you there classes which was interesting. Gotta say, the genocide angle of the forest folk the chieftain tasks you with is interesting since I didn't get that vibe in Untold, but that could just be me.

I reached level 70, restarted the characters and got them to around level 50 before beating the game. Checking Untold I could have set it to fill in for me as well, so that's good to know when I start IV or later games after finishing this one. Things I miss from that version was the pub people you could speak to which told you hints for different quest or just information of the world. A free store was nice instead for paying 100 to store a single item. And also, while playing the game on a TV is awesome, the controls works really well for mapping the game as well after you get used to it and the HD pictures of the monsters is really clear, I actually like the Untold 3D monsters better, mostly since it allow them to have the FOE-monsters visible which is a bit more scary than a yellow, red or black orb hovering in front of you. Also noticed that the maps on certain floors was different. Neat.

I had a Landsknecht, Protector, Survivalist, Alchemist and Medic since it is a decent setup to tackle the problems, and the closest to what I could feel the original team was like. Also had a Ronin and Hexer to finish up some of the quests. I was gonna do it all, but one quest where you had to get petrified I never got to work, and the clean-up after finishing the main game ended in disaster. I got the knowledge about the Ice Dragon so I begin exploring the floors to find him. Had to go back, and recalled, the Fire Dragon was easier to get to so I just walked up to him. Got obliterated, didn't save and instantly realised that all the progress of the map I had done was gone. So that was that.

Overall, I gotta say that I think Untold actually is better in quality. The story, the extra area, and the fact that you have the bestiary and item codex with you instead of stuck in the Radha makes it a bit more convenient. Also, all the soundbites of every character makes it also more immersive since everyone had a voice. Of course, I won't be playing this game again for a long time since I got 5 more of these games in the backlog. Well, better back to it.

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)

 

Lily the Flower Knight

Another game I started and quit and then returned on. Played the first dungeon when I started it and then stopped for a time. Don't know why and I came back to it during midsummer 2024 and then finished it up during my vacation that same year. It's basically a Zelda game, get these things from these dungeons and get items to use to solve puzzles and such. 

Story is that grandpa is telling a story to his grandkids. One named Lily which is also the name of the protagonist. She's a new recruit of the Orchid Kingdom, but during the ceremony the king is put to sleep by a powerful spell from the king's evil brother, the Wizard Crocus. So you have to get out and find ingredients that are hidden in the three dungeons. After getting the three ingredients a small cutscene that is actually rather good. Crocus arrives and sends in his minions of orcs in order to kill the sleeping king. The guards try to stop them, but in the last minute Lily arrives and gives the ingredients to the helpers that awaken the king so that he can drive out the orcs. I think it works really well with the commentary from the children since it feels really important. 

After that Lily's sword gets upgraded and it's out to the Wastelands in order to fight Crocus in his fortress. After getting through the dungeon there is a final battle with Crocus which gets rather easy when you used the lightning spell or at least it felt easy with that. Lily returns to the castle, gets a ring and the story is over as the kids goes to bed. You can start the game again and finish up the last things you didn't do. Like finding all heart pieces or energy crystals. I guess the ring also works as an instant teleporter. 

It was alright, some of the puzzles like the singing stone went out a bit too much and the bosses feels a bit long like. Kinda fun when the children complain at times and change story, like the puzzle to get to a treasure chest or if there are a ninja or a pirate as a boss. There is a sequel, but I haven't gotten it as of writing. We'll see if I does. I got so many games to play through. Nice graphics, good music. 

Diablo II: Resurected (Switch)

 

To Hell with You!

Where interested in getting this when it first came out for the Switch, but I think it was at the same time as all the controversy came around Activision Blizzards then-CEO surfaced and I just couldn't do it. And now they are bought up by Microsoft and it was a decent sale for the game I thought it was maybe time to get it. I've mentioned before I played through the original game back in... 13 years ago? Damn, and why the hell do I talk about a commercial for a pension agency? It must have been on my mind then.

Story is that the warrior from the first game shoved Diablo's soulstone into his forehead in hope of containing the Lord of Terror. Didn't work that well. The Warrior become the Dark Wanderer and after unleashing demons in a tavern is joined by Marius, a drunkard who had survived the attacks on Tristram. They traveled to Tal Rasha's tomb where Baal, lord of Destruction was held captive by Tal Rasha himself. Finding Baal the Arch-Angel Tyreal stops Diablo from freeing him, but Marius is beconned to pull the soulstone out of the body of Tal Rasha. Tyrael tells Marius to go to where Mephisto is found and enter the gate to hell to destroy Baal's soulstone as Tyrael himself gets trapped in the tomb. Marius follows Baal and Diablo and see them opening a portal to hell and give Diablo his true form back.

This is all shown between chapters. The game is that you create a character based on the 7 different classes, Barbarian, Assassin, Druid, Necromancer, Amazon, Paladin and Sorceress. I chose the Sorceress since I recall liking the sorcerer class in the first game. And I could roleplay it as a beginning for Katrina Bargov from my DnD campaign back in Curse of Strahd. At the first chapter you end up a Rouge encampment where they have fled from a monastery being overrun by Andariel, one of the lesser evils. This is basically an homage to the first game. Yes, you have more walking around in the fields, but there is a monastery and caves which gives the same look as the original. You also fight the original rouge that have been corrupted and turned into an undead. And you go to Tristram to save Deckard Cain. And kill zombie Griswold and find the dead body of Wirt... damn! Everything in the first game turned to shit. At least I can live in denial and believe that all the other people survived since if I can't see them, then they aren't dead. After beating Andariel you head east to the desert where you have to find the tomb and parts of a staff to open it. And as you enter the tomb you get attacked by the lower evil Duriel that constantly killed me. I changed hire from the rouge you get in the first chapter. And then I recalled I could reskill, so I did, went from fire based to ice. Got trounced, thought I should try another skill set and then I realised that you only could do it once. I was screwed so I had to restart. Played it up until that moment again, but I learned that everything I had saved in the stash on page 2-4 came with me so luckily my jewels and gems followed. And I got a lot of better equipment that allowed my hire to actually be a bit tougher, and I checked out a guide for what skills to use. Learning that Static Field was the best for bosses. Great. He died this time. You save Tyrael and heads over the ocean, fights Mephisto, enter hell and kill Diablo.

Back too Marius he had run away at the sight of Diablo and been looked up and have told the story to who he thought was Tyrael, but turned out to be Baal in disguise that wanted back his soulstone. After taking it, killing Marius and burning down the prison or whatever he sets out and invade the northern barbarian lands in order to take control of the Worldstone. After beating Diablo Tyrael sent you after him to the last barbarian stronghold where you have to lift the siege upon their city, rescue captives and prove your worth for the ancients so that you can enter the Worldstone and fight off Baal. In the end Tyrael have to destroy the Worldstone since it has been corrupted. The End!

I've played it once before, or more or less watched as me and my best friend played it back 2000-2003. We played as a Paladin and used a hex configure or whatever to make the character level 99 and give him the best stuff there was. And then we just butchered our way through the whole game. Maybe that's why the cinematic stayed with me since I can't recall the gameplay or what happened as we played the game. So it was rather fun playing it legit this time around. Sorcerer was fun and blasting everyone with fireball is always satisfying. Playing it on console worked really well with the controls, sadly I only learnt about the easier way to use a teleportation scroll far too late in the game. Now, I only played solo offline since I don't have Nintendo Online or any friends to play it. And I don't see that I would play this again unless I got a real craving to see the story again, but there is other games to play. Cause all that is left is the higher difficulties to get better loot to max the character. Maybe a normal run through with a lvl 40 character because most enemies wouldn't stand a chance again.

Overall, I found it fun to play and I can see the addiction of the looter-system. It actually gave me more of a craving for replaying the first game, but it doesn't exist on modern consoles. The claustrophobic feeling of the catacombs and such is amazing, not the same feel here. There's always III, maybe I will get it some time. Or IV if it gets to Switch 2 or whatever the console will be called.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Wii U)

 

Where's my continuation?

Finished off the second game again and the feeling of melancholy have appeared for finishing it up. Played it very slow compared to the last time. Last time I only put in 28 hours, 41 levels and missed 2 djinn and didn't get the last summons. Don't know why, but fixed it this time. Played it on Hard as well, mostly larger HP on the enemies I gathered. No problem until the end when I fought Dullahahn, which beat me every time so I had probably to grind for another 10 levels to be able to survive his attacks while dealing with the 200 regeneration he has. A bit easier on the old cart where I see that I had level 87 and played for 136 hours. Have I said this is my favourite game series? It has to be when a 30 hours game is played for 136 hours. Not as long as Tears of the Kingdom, but I only played that once. 

Played the game using the class items you get and while the first game actually gave me an enhanced experience since it made it easier with growth and such, here changing away from the basic classes actually was a hindrance where I constantly had to turn of the items and djinn to get Frost or Whirlwind, not until the second team showed up did it improve (and that was often due to their psynergy items that permanently gave you douse and Frost), but the final classes was awesome. At that point grinding for items worked really fine when I had all attack djinn put on the main party and diversified over all four meaning I could constantly hit them. And with Petra and Ground you could crowd control most encounters. And most late end bosses was really easy with a combo of those two and summon rush. Dullahan the only one that could handle it. Also went out of my way (which may explain some of the extra hours) to go to Air's Rock before Yampi Desert. Maybe would try to get the angry Kraden scene if I play again where you said no to everything and wanting to skip Lemuria gets Kraden so mad.

So, in a hypothetical remake, what would I want to see? Get rid of the RNG-blacksmith mechanic or let more enemies drop materials for Sunshine. I also realised again it was strange that people from the first game didn't have portraits there, but gained them here, so sync that up. A mini-map would be nice since the guide wasn't all that helpful at times since they didn't have a room in Ankhol ruins which put me on a loop which I couldn't get past. More funny is that I noticed they had missed a vial in Air's Rock as well. 

Still love the game. It has the emotional pay-off for a 60 hour game (both games combined) and cliffhanger in the end that really interesting. Sadly they didn't explain it in the 3rd game. Also, there was a lot of things they could have explored in a future game, the fighting between Hisperia and Atteka, Alhafra's greedy mayor and what happened to Prox after the Golden Sun event? Still, nice seeing it on the big screen, can't say the same for the next game, Dark Dawn since they never released it on the Virtual Console. A travesty I say!

Ocean's Heart (Switch)

 

Looks like the opening to Breath of the Wild

Midsummer 2024 have passed and right before I got this game on a sale. I saved it to my Wishlist thinking it was part of the Oceanhorn games, which wasn't the case. I mean, it had a blue clothed blond hero in a legend of Zelda template off a game with Ocean in the name? It wasn't, but it was a fine game. It start on an island where your character train to be a volounter navy soldier to protect the islands from pirates by her father. Pirates attack and kidnaps Hazel, an herb collector so your father follows so after a couple of months you set out yourself to find your father and Hazel.

So you travel the islands looking for pirates uncovering the story that Blackbeard the pirate is looking for the Ocean's Heart, a magical artefact belonging to Sea King who was destroyed using it since it could cause the destruction of the world. You follow clues until you find Hazel that helps you find the Sea King's Sword that can dispel curses and so on. Then you follow Blackbeard to the ancient palace where you defeat the guardian, get the heart, but Blackbeard steals it and you kill him, destroy the heart and reunites with your dad and Hazel back home.

Simple story, most gameplay is finding items and upgrades that allows you to explore more. Game looks a lot like A Link the Past. With more pirates. Only took a weekend to play through. Not that hard, but some parts of the game design irks me the wrong way. Mostly is that a lot of the dungeons forced me to go back and forth since a key opened an area here, but only brought me to another key that opened a door on the other side of the map. Take Zelda games, I feel the dungeons tend to flow so they brought you back to where you needed the item you get to continue forward. Also, the game gets some real slowdowns at times and when it goes away the main character speed up dramatically (or so it feels). 

Overall, nice enough game.

Golden Sun: The Broken Seal (Wii U)

 

Finally!

Difficulties at work made me crave some nostalgic feelings and maybe it was time to replay the game I once called the best game ever. Especially since it was 6 years since last as of writing. So no story or such since I already covered that in depth. I think I played it on the Wii U last time, but since I didn't have a decent TV I think I used the Wii U gamepad and I gotta say, playing on a big screen with a Wii U Pro Controller felt rather well. Only problem with it I would liked to have utilised more of the buttons, but that is due to the Game Boy Advance controllers. 

So what did I do to spice it up? I decided to change my classes beyond the mono-elemental one I usually do. In the first game it doesn't work that well until you get 6 djinn of each element to gain some interesting combos. So I picked up my Prima Guide and had it beside me during the whole game. Then I began noticing certain things. For example giving Ivan Flint in the beginning and defeating the three thieves makes the game give you back Flint so that you won't miss him... even if it only is really a few minutes. It actually made it easier in most parts since I didn't have to think about growth psynergy or such since I already had it.

Then it was the artefact weapons and armor. Most of them in the early game is kinda worthless. The bandit sword is already out paced by the normal weapons you can buy before getting it. What's the point? And that keeps up until something like Altin. I read somewhere someone complaining that they didn't have money so maybe that, but I just played it normally and sold off all Water of Life and other consumables meaning I had enough money for pretty much anything. No problem. Maybe they didn't explore enough.

I also decided to do the game really out of order in my usual style. For example I headed for Imil and Mercury Lighthouse before Kolima Woods. Got my ass beat my Saturnos, so I headed back to Kolima and did that before returning with more djinn and levels. Went a lot easier. I forgot that I should have skipped the Force Orb for that special cutscene in the Altin Mines, have to wait for the next playthrough in 2030. Defeated the Cyclone monster in the desert before finishing Colosso, saw another text with Sheba before she left Tolbi which I haven't seen before. Read also that you could see the colors of the stones in Altmiller Cave with Reveal which was a cool tidbit. Never knew that since I wrote down what Babi said so I wasn't lost. Speaking about Altmiller Cave I found out that the Prima Guide has an error. The guide says that the Dragon Shield is in the cave, but it is in Altin Mine. Think it was a vial there, but they probably confused the vial with the Mystic Draught. Went through the Babi Lighthouse section and headed out so I could finish off Crossbone Island. I actually went back there as quickly I had the appropriate psynergy. Still, Carry is the final one and that is in Venus Lighthouse. After that I killed Dreadbeard at level 28, started up my old save that was for level grinding so I had 42 and grinded to 44 so that Ivan had the Tornado psynergy and then I beat the game and is prepared for the next game.

Overall I fell in love with the game again. The Music, the graphics and the story just makes me happy. So since there is probably no reason for them to release Golden Sun 4 at the moment the best I can hope for is probably some kinda remake. Best option would be the first 2 games remade into one. Would I change somethings? I would prefer if running was the default, more buttons to use and maybe some tweaks so that early weapons actually is useful. The main characters don't default to defend if the target dies before a strike. A bestiary and maybe some added content. If both games are combines I would gladly take a New Game+ where the levels just continues so that you can grind to lvl 99 and max all stats. Another thing is maybe add a store or such that actually sells something like Oil Drops or Weasel Claws so that you can use different play styles. They can also put in a growth psynergy to Isaac like they did for Matthew. And more inventory space. There's like 5 open spaces when you are decked out with weapons, armor, accessories and psynergy items. I would enjoy that, but question if I still would bitch about the game straying from the pure original.

Chrono Cross (Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition) (Switch)

 

Through the Dimensions

Took me a while since I started it right after playing through the Radical Dreamers. And that post was published in 2023 and I assume I played it some months before that. It's a remake of a PS1 game from 1999 and a sequel to the SNES Chrono Trigger. Story is that the young boy Serge have dream of him, a girl and a puppy wandering through a fortress, he wakes up and has too collects items for his... I assume they hint at girlfriend... and he is transported through a dimensional portal. He ends up in the same world, albeit different. Like the fact that he was supposed to have died 14 years earlier drowning in the ocean. He gets the help of Kid, the girl that appeared in Radical Dreamers and he helps her to find the Frozen Flame in Viper Manor... this is basically the Radical Dreamers again. Lynx is also here as the main antagonist. After a lot of adventures you end up at the Fort Dragonia which is where the game started. And redoing the steps you face Lynx, Kid gets killed (?) and suddenly Lynx steals your body. You play as Lynx from this time on and tries to get into the Sea of Eden where the connections with Chrono Trigger becomes apparent. Shadows of Chrono, Lucca and Marle is there and the Bell in the town square. And the first boss I really has trouble with. To fix it I guess I had to go back to town, get red elemental magic to combine with and choose a team that adhere to that. I didn't so I got beaten up and in the end I quit for a time. 

And a year or so later it hit me, all these remasters Square Enix put out have things that make this game easier right? Speed-up and boost right? So I got to it and what did they do? They made you invincible since the battle system doesn't work like Final Fantasy games where they just gives you constant special attacks. And here is probably best to describe the game mechanics. There is levels, and yet not. Defeating a boss gives you a star level and with it a stat boost that goes to all characters. In between the bosses you can fight say 5-10 enemies and get mini stat boosts, like HP and one of those gives you something better. After that you don't level up until the next boss. Meaning the challenge is constantly scaled. Which forces you to learn the magic system and such. And I'm bad at that. Maybe if the equipment side would compensate, but either I didn't get it, since I ended using the quick smithy thing and decked them out with that and nothing else seemed to come up, except the rainbow equipment, which I never got around to since I couldn't get the hammer the smith asked for.

And that isn't mentioning the most problematic thing about this game. It has 45 characters to play as... Jesus. And people complained that Final Fantasy VI had 16 characters. You see the problem here? If you only get those mini-level ups by fighting monsters? Do you need to use them all? Yeah, if you want to min-max yes but doesn't matter. But how can you keep all these characters separated? Especially hard since they actually have counterparts in the other dimension. So you are gonna confuse them. I prefer parties that have set characters for this reason, I might grow with them and feel for them. The only one that matters is Serge, and Kid, but she is killed half-way through. And in the end I just used Pascal the pirate and the alien guy, who for some reason is very important for the story since you need his UFO to get to Terra Tower where the Time Devourer awaits... and you fly there with a machine from the UFO installed on the sail boat. It's f***ing awesome!

I might not like the battle system and all the characters, but it was a bit of fun. Graphics are nice, music great and the story draws me in. First the question on where Serge ended up and then what happened at Fort Dragonia. Then getting to Chronopolis, a city pushed back 10 000 years from the future and Terra Tower, another city brought back 10 000 year. How the story begins claiming humans to be infestation on the Earth since they are "children of Lavos" compared to the Reptites and the dragons that are part of the Earth. Lynx is actually your father corrupted by FATE, the computer that... I don't remember, the story goes crazy here. Kid is actually the clone of Schala and so on. It's so convoluted I actually like it.

The problem though makes it hard for me to know where to go. Several points I ran back and fourth through all locations in order to figure out where to go, and I didn't use the no encounter button. Gets tedious, especially since you don't gain levels beyond the first points. Don't say no to money and items and such. Doesn't help that you might need the right character, do you have the item? So many variables that it makes it hard to get it for me. Coming back a year or so later made it rather hard to guess what all items I carried did, but at least I got it working to power through the end. Helped that all battles was made easy by being invincible. Still, found the final battle interesting since you have to use the Chrono Cross to get the good ending, and how do you use it? I got that since the chimes and colours that appears after getting it is important and that being seven means I have to use the different magics to create a pattern. But it only works on the end boss and I get that climbing the Terrra Tower tells you the pattern, and that the second to last boss uses that pattern himself. I got that since I looked it up before and could see that it was the pattern. The game is a bit obtuse is all I'm saying. 

Still, I can't say I didn't like it. Maybe playing it in New Game+ works better, but this is a game that if you gotta 100% it you need a guide. Another complaint people have was that this game actually undoes everything you did in Chrono Trigger. That message was that you could change the future, every game over screen have that the future refused to change and in the end you did it, Lavos defeated and everyones happy. Well, not here. Lavos conjures a city back in time which forces the dragon gods to summon a reptilian city from the future and so on. What then do I think about it? Eh, in another dimension Chrono succeeded, this is more like a what if. They even hint that Radical Dreamers is an alternate dimension so why not the original Chrono? Like the third timeline in Zelda it might be one part where they die and so on. Really, the only time that bothers me would be if it goes in a boring direction. I can't say they went there. As said the story goes bonkers and I kinda like it. Can understand why not the whispered about third entry Chrono Break never got made cause where are you gonna go? Didn't think Xenoblade Chronicles 3 would tie in with the others, but they did. And I saw it floating around that they registered Chrono Break again so who knows.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Switch)

Throw a book at them!

Yet another GameCube-remake, this time of a game I actually finished... not that long ago either... 6 YEARS AGO? Boy, must have played it as soon as I got my home. Should probably play Golden Sun again so I can get a remake of that as well, but that was 6 years ago as well. Got nothing to add really since the last playthrough regarding story or so. Same story. They changed some lines, no catcalling goombas in the sewer and Vivian clearly a trans-character in this. Somehow this was controversial before the games release, but I don't really care, I get to send a shadow demon queen back to the abyss with jumps!

Mostly the remake have been upgrading is the graphics with what people speculate is the Origami King-engine. Now, I can't instantly see that the graphics have been improved unless someone shows me a side by side comparison. As someone said, it looks like I remember the game to look. Especially since last time I was using a small screen so it will probably look rather awful at my current setup. I now that they also added a match with Prince Mush, the former champion of the Glitzpit, which I haven't beaten, my attacks just stops working after passing 50 % health. I beat everything else like Bonetail, and every trouble, all star pieces and upgraded all characters. Which unlocks all the art galleries and music players. Best addition probably the increased coin purse sine it goes to 9999 instead of 999. Less need to use coins constantly and actually have a buffer for special occasions.

Game stills great. Fun and engaging. They also apparently added some shortcuts which minimise the traveling time between areas and thank god for that with the General White quest and side-quest. Hope this will make Nintendo do another adventure like this. The badge system is so fun since it gives you freedom to play however you want as long as you got the badges. I ended powering up Mario to max in jumping, even disabling the hammer for extra damage. Kinda fun hitting 7 damage constantly. If I was a bit more daring I might even have lowered the hp get more badgepoints to push danger (5 hp or lower) and critical (1 hp) extra damage. Of course, one hit and your dead so better be good at those super guards.

So I tried it for Prince Mush, and I got so close so many times. I get him down to 9 hp and then I have to time the damn super guard to be able to damage him. I make it in the beginning to get him to the second phase but after that I just can't seem to do it, and I use both simplifier badges I have. Either start leveling up for more bagde points or actually get good at the game... might be time to change game.

A DnD tale: Tomb of Annihilation - Lost in Omu (part 3)

 

They dream of following the path of the setting sun that leads to El Dorado and the Mysterious Cities of Gold.

So back at it again our brave heroes heads of with their newly acquired airship on their way to Omu, cutting the 60-70 days of traveling down to 3. The crew of the ship tells them that their destination is very close to the place where they were attacked by flying monster that made their ship crash. And as they approach 10 gargoyles attack them from all directions. Since they have two people that can use Cone of Cold they make short work with them even if they have limited range attack. After the battle we also learn that the blood spear Immeral is carrying actually gives a +2 magic bonus to attack rolls and damage... which is kinda typical us, especially since we used the last session to just fix the characters sheet, make new characters in case of and look up things that was written. We missed that detail though.

After that they arrived in Omu. Freya, Immeral, Hope and Destinova goes alone into the city to check it out. They encounter a destroyed Thay encampment where wild dogs are eating the corpses and below the rubble they find a man, dying of exhaustion. They save him and he tells them of the nine shrines of the gods and the poem that tells them about the keys that will open the way to the tomb. The players get that they should look for the nine keys so they continue walking. Here I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed in the official map set for this module. First, all the maps needed to be larger, and the hex crawl really needed better lines between the hexes so that you could follow along. And the city maps probably needed indicators where things where better since it didn't help my players so they gave me a direction and I had to push them to the different locations. Better than nothing, but still. 

They found the first shrine they could find with the unicorn rabbit. One of the easier shrines actually since there isn't a death trap that instantly kills you. But my sisters are still too stupid to understand the riddles. I had the floor plan for this shrine printed out with the different symbols and such and they stare at it for 10 minutes and then roll enough to get the answer from Destinova (my DMPC). They didn't understand it was the floor, but thought it was a wall mural... even though I clearly stated it was the floor. At least they are getting a bit paranoid. They avoid being hit by one of the axes since I rolled a 1 so it jammed the mechanism. They got the cube and left.

Next stop was the destroyed encampment belong to the Company of the Yellow Banner where they found the note about them getting into the tomb, hinting again about the cubes and such. Then they found the destroyed wagon where they notice the stone below it where they can copy the old Omu text so that they don't have to use a spell to comprehend languages every shrine or so. We end here since its around 15:00 and my sisters doesn't wanna end up in a shrine to figure it out again or in a fight. Good for them since next up is the colosseum and the fight with the King of Feathers. So I can prepare that so we have a great battle!

Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising (Switch)

Red and Blue, the main character colors

Decided to get the game Eiyuden Chronicles, but the physical game doesn't release until a month or so after the digital release so I got the prequel that was released a year earlier. Eiyduen Chronicles is supposed to be a spiritual successor to the Suikoden games where the first two games was supposed to be rereleased in 2023, but got moved to 2024 and as of writing (early may 2024) no words of when they are gonna be out. So I might play through them on my PS3 as I snapped them up on the Classic releases years ago. 

That game was a full on JRPG with battle mechanics, this game though is an action-rpg plattformer where you go through several areas to mine materials and fight enemies to help the people in this little town that have been struck by an earthquake. You play as the scavenger girl CJ (as we learn in the end credits scene means "Crown Jewels") who look for a bigger treasure than her father so that she can go home due to her homes rite of passage. You begin helping the town to get access to the Barrows that exists below the town. Together with the kangaroo samurai Garoo and the acting-mayor Isha, who can use magic without rune lenses (rune lenses grants magic for some reason), you explore the forest, quarry and barrows around the village. Turns out that the town is besieged by bandits that in reality are soldiers of the Empire that looks for rune lenses. 

The Barrow was also sealed long ago to stop an evil sorcerer from escaping and turns out that he still there, possessing Daksa, Isha's father and the lost mayor of the town. Apparently the sorcerer created a sigil that created rune lenses in people in order to harvest them, and this in turn created Isha's magic. She's not the first one from that town and it seems to be a curse upon the town with a person being born once in a blue moon with blue hair and magic and a rune lense in their body that will kill them before growing up. So of course you destroy them.

It was a fun game. Got really addictive with the gameplay loop of going through areas to collect resources, solving quest and upgrade the town to get more stuff. Mostly the story beats and some of the characters will probably appear in the main game. CJ, Isha and Garoo feels like a no brainer, as well as Melora the magic girl and the mercenary samurai that protects the village. And the imperial bad guy of course. 30 hours to 100 % everything. Might try Suikoden 1, heard some say it's only 8 hours. 

Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD (Switch)

 

What it's supposed to look like

Well, more Final Fantasy and I pretty much only have one game left besides playing the original games again... and the sequels to XIII on the PS3... or the sequel to IV I got for the Wii, but ease of start and play is really better on the Switch. So it was XV the Pocket edition in HD. I don't have a Playstation 4 or 5 so this was the best way to play it. I read somewhere someone didn't know who this is for, like everyone got a phone that can play this or you got a Playstation. Well, apparently it's for me who don't want to play games on a phone and doesn't have a newer Playstation. So let's wait 5 years until I got around to it.

So basically, you play prince Noctis on his way to his wedding with the lady Lunafreya. With him he has three friends, Gladiolous the muscle, Ignis the smart guy and Prompto the wisecracking one. After getting their car fixed by Cid and Cindy news reach that the Empire have attacked their kingdom and killed Noctis father the king in order to get a ring and crystal. On their journey they bump into the empire's chancellor Ardyn that seems to help them for some reason. Suddenly we start to collecting summons that represents the six gods. I don't know if a lot got missed in the smaller Pocket Edition, but at times I just went with the motions cause I didn't quite get why I did everything.

That goes on until we get to this island republic under the empire's protection where Leviathan lives and Lunafreya is there as well to get the blessing. So after an action packed sequence the beloved are so close to reunite and then... Ardyn shows up and kills Lunafreya. And somehow Ignis got blinded. Some sad moments, the light of day is disappearing and daemons attack the civilians. Collecting the last things and entering the empire's capital to get the crystal they stole. And Ardyn reveals that he is actually immortal and a former king of Noctis kingdom, but he somehow was demonized and turned evil... as said, I don't always follow why things happen. Doesn't matter, Noctis enters the crystal and get Bahamut's blessing and suddenly it has gone 10 years. The world is overrun by daemons and only one city is left standing due to a power generator. Noctis meets up with his friends and they head out to get the throne back from Ardyn. After battling it turns into a one-on-one fight between Noctis and Ardyn. Noctis wins and then I guess he dies since he needed to sacrifice himself to return the light. Doesn't explain how he sits on the throne at the end with Lunafreya. 

Story is passable, gameplay is interesting. You got three weapons to chose from, which I only used the normal sword since it was fast enough. I wonder if they were supposed to have weapon triangle system, but it doesn't seems to be working. You got magic... but you gotta pick it up from power sources and they are one use only. Better using the armitage system were the royal weapons are used for great attacks during a short time. It has a cool-down timer, but it works. Voice acting is good, the graphics are not up to the normal game, and looks a bit like Bravely Default, although they looked better there. There is one funny scene where someone is painting the gang and they use a really high-res picture of the group from the normal version where everyone laughs at how ridiculous it looks. That was kinda funny. Other graphical things people talked about was the food it was life-like, no such thing here. Would have been fun with just a still image of the food. Also, no need to save treasures as all they are for are selling for cash. I got that you used to use it upgrade your weapons, but they simplified it with just being able to buy the things. Fine by me. Also the reason for the magic system is that you needed items so they used the power sources instead. 

Overall, if you can't play it in a normal way it works. Rumours of Switch 2 is high and I would probably get the normal version if they got it as well. 

Update 2025-05-28: Well, now the Switch 2 is just one week away and sign of Final Fantasy XV.

A DnD tale: Tomb of Annihilation - The Oracle (Part 2)

 

"Granddaughter, it's a foreign mirror

Taken from the jungle by crime!"

The adventure continues. After two of my sisters mentioned that they thought the adventure should be shorter I had to counter that with more setting up the game. So I spent a whole Sunday rolling dice to simulate the first 27 days for them to reach Orolonga and let me tell you, I haven't rolled that bad in ages. Several days where lost for my rolling of a 1 on the navigation skill forcing them to crash the boats in the rivers getting stuck, getting lost in the jungle and actually causing a tropical storm. And then I found out that I've mixed up Nangalore with Orulonga so I had to backtrack and guess how the travels would have gone. AND I missed that you are supposed to roll for morning, midday and night for encounters. So they only got attacked one night by ghouls. Which they handled with ease with a fireball and some use of the light sword. 

Anyway, they reach Orulonga and has to figure out the secret of the ziggurat. They won't even climb the first stairs. They look for footprints and since they haven't meet Artus Cimber and Dragonbait so I have them being with the naga, so they of course have gone trough the trails. And since Freja have talk with plants, they find out they took the black and purple orchids without meeting the Chwinga. So they do the same, to the flowers great terror, and clears the first trail. The second trail they actually begin doing things the book have foreseen, like Immeral first trying to bypass it by running up the stairs, followed by a shadow step. Both fail. And now they look around and find the second Chwinga that have the red feather so they go back and search around to find them and then run up the second pair of stairs, clearing the second trail.

This time they encounters the POISONOUS snakes that block the path. After trying to charm them to no avail, they look for another Chwinga, find the one that eats the snake and crawls past the other snakes. And then they have reached the top and enters the shrine to speak to the guardian naga inside. Artus and Dragonbait is already here asking about Mezro, the lost city and they get the answer that it will only appear again if Ras Nsi, the general of ancient time is gone and his wherabout is in Omu. Then it's our heroes turn and they are told that the rod piece they are looking for is in Omu and where that it. They also get the location for the crashed airship the Star Goddess. Since it's fairly close they decide to continue towards it. It takes them 10 days to reach it after some time getting lost in the jungle and as they approach they are called by the captain of the airship for help. Below the crashed airship a couple of ghouls are lurking so Destinova throws a fireball while Artus and Freya shots arrows on the two lasting ghouls. Freja, Dragonbait, Artus, Hope and Immeral climbs up to help the survivors down, but the trees begin rumbling and three girallon zombies comes rushing through the jungle on the path to fight our heroes. Hope rushes first and uses her sun sword to burn the first girallon. And then it makes it's five attacks, which she wasn't prepared for. Then Artus just takes off his glove and uses a cone of cold on all three, killing the first one and badly injuring the other two. Dragonbait follows with an attack with his sword, killing the other one with two strikes. Then Immeral attacks the final one until it falls down and die.

After rescuing the crew of the ship they start fixing the ship up. And for two days straight they have a tropical storm so they mend the blimp during that, after 4 days the crew have regained their strength after being without of food for several days and they fix it up and 10 days later sails back to Port Nyanzaru to fix the last bits, bunker up with more rations and bug salves. And here we ended the session. Next time they either get to Omu or get drifted out to other areas of interest. Someone mentioned the ideas of fighting the red dragon near the Dwarven area, the Terrorfolk home at Firefinger and obviously the gargoyles attack around Omu. Need to find some damn rules about aerial combat though. 

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion (Switch)

To the promised land

So as of writing everyone else is playing and talking about Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth which made me get some cravings to return to that world, but since I don't have a Playstation 5 or a decent computer I had to go to the only option left without replaying the original game, and that is playing the remake of the PSP prequel that I have had on a shelf for 2 years. 

So that's what I did. It starts like the original Final Fantasy VII, on a train inbound to a Mako reactor and a soldier jumping of at the station fighting Shrinra soldiers. In this game you play as Zack Fair, the guy Cloud impersonated in the original game and Aeriths boyfriend to be. It's a simulation of a Wutai attack where they have taken uniforms from Shinra and you are supposed to stop them before they blow up the reactor. Here you meet your instructor Angeal. The training is cut short when Zack gets beaten up by Sephiroth. Then it's off to Wutai as the war is still going on and you encounter Yuffie before fighting the boss, but afterwards Angeal disappears. And then you are sent out to look into his hometown with the Turk leader Tseng that Sephiroth kills in the temple with the black materia. There it is revealed that Angeal and another of the super SOLDIERS Genesis came from the same village and that Genesis have, for some reason sprouted wings like Sephiroth in his final form.

After that it gets to stop several attacks by Genesis that works with a scientist called Hollander that wants revenge when Hojo took his promotion so to speak. It culminates with Zack killing Angeal and capturing Hollander, who is rescued by what it seems to be the director of SOLDIER that have been financing Hollander. For revenge it is stated, but revenge for what isn't really stated I get, unless I missed it by not playing through all missions (I stopped at around 50%). Meanwhile Zack met Aerith and Cloud and after giving Aerith the idea to sell flowers Cload and Zack heds for Nibelheim and pretty much reenacts that parts of the Final Fantasy VII story, but without Cloud being centre stage. Sephiroth goes insane, burns down the village and Cloud is the one that finally offs him from the reactor. Zack and Cloud gets captured by Hojo that experiments on them, Zack escapes and brings Cloud with them, They get help from one of Zacks friends in the Turks, a girl I haven't seen before. After a run around Zack faces of Genesis in the bombed out village Angeal and him came from so defeating him it pretty much returns to what I known before. They reach the outskirts of Midgar, but the Shinra army catches up with them. Zack makes a last stand killing them all, but dies from his wounds, giving the buster sword to Cloud. And it ends with Aerith selling her flowers and a train pulling up near the Mako reactor with Cloud atop it. The game bookending it self and straight up tells us that the story continues in Final Fantasy VII.

Gameplay wise it's more of an action RPG. You equip up to three accessories and six materia that gives you different attacks and enhances stats or effects. Like the original the materia levels up, but I assume it's random like the normal level ups. You have a three wheeled spinner that constantly spin and if you get 777 you get a level up, I think 444 is materia level up. At times you can get three characters and it will give you a special attack and might trigger a summon that also have to align on the wheel. Sceptical in the beginning, but as soon I learned that the level ups isn't completely random (the more monster you kills, the higher a hidden EXP value goes and the possibility for a guaranteed 777 goes up). Feels a lot better than a certain game that also talked about randomness in their level ups.

Overall, I found it enjoyable. The music when they hint at the original songs are great, it's fun seeing locals and people you recognise from the original game, but I quickly realised that people I didn't recognised would probably die. Imagine my surprise that the girl Turk seemed to survive. When I got used to the gameplay it was rather ok. Would have preferred more JRPG elements to be honest, and I expected at least one more materia slot. Never got the idea around materia combining so never bothered. Only took me something like 30 hours and the game ends on a new game+ save so I can replay it with levels and most equipment intact. I guess I have to redo all the missions, but since I was level 50 and with some mastered materia it would be a piece of cake to get back, if a bit tiresome at some enemies. Got craving to play the remakes of Final Fantasy VII, hopefully they release them for the Switch 2 or something (unless it's a freaking cloud version).

Update 2025-04-28: And my prayer's were answered, but the monkey's paw curled its finger with the invention of Game Key Cards. At least it isn't a cloud version, right?